Saturday, May 31, 2014

Earlier this month, I had the privilege of attending
a conference, “Peace Building and Education in Iraq,” that was sponsored by the
Center for Conflict Resolution and Negotiation at the University of Dohuk, and
the Center for Global Affairs at New York University.I also had the opportunity to give a talk at
the Institut Francais du Proche-Orient in Erbil.Both of these opportunities shed much light
on current social and political developments in Iraq.

Since my last visit to the Kurdish Regional
Government (KRG) in 2008, there has been tremendous development.I spent the first 2 days in Erbil with my
colleague, Dr. Faris Kamal Nadhmi, who is a social psychologist at Salahiddin
University with whom I am conducting research on Iraqi youth.Dr. Faris, who formerly taught at Baghdad
University, has developed a large network of academic colleagues in the Arab south and
throughout the KRG.

The talk that Faris organized at the French Institute
preceded the conference and was held in a stunning setting. The Shihab Chalabi house is a beautiful
example of Ottoman era architecture
located in the center of the Erbil Citadel (al-Qala’a),
purportedly the oldest continuously inhabited town on earth.

Dr. Faris Nadhmi introducing my lecture

Originally owned by a notable family, it has
been carefully restored through an agreement between the Iraqi government, the
KRG and the French government.It houses
the Institut Francais du Proche-Orient whose director, the prominent
anthropologist, Dr. Hosham Dawood, gave me a tour, including the impressive library
that is being established.

The lecture, “The Future of Democracy in Iraq,” was
held in the courtyard of the Chalabi home and was followed by a spirited
discussion.Many faculty and
intellectuals were in attendance from Kurdish universities, literary
associations and civil society organizations, in addition to some university
students.A number of the attendees were
former members of the Iraqi Communist Party.

Dr. Hosham Dawod - Director, Institut Francais

What was striking during the question and answer
session that followed the presentation was the contradiction between the strong
support for democratization, on the one hand, and pessimism about the
possibilities for positive change, on the other.Arguments were made that the system of organized
corruption in Iraq is so pervasive that citizens have few options at their
disposal to challenge it.

I responded by pointing to the myriad Iraqi civil society organizations,
intellectual circles and political movements, outside the circles of state
power, that are engaged in articulating a vision of a democratic, non-sectarian
Iraq, often at significant peril to themselves.I noted that this activity constitutes what Antonio Gramsci calls a “war
of position” and must precede the implementation of any meaningful change in
society.

Gramsci differentiates between a “war of maneuver” –
the actual attempt to change a political system, either through revolution or
via the ballot box – and a “war of position.”Unless citizens spend considerable time and effort developing a
counter-hegemonic vision – one that resonates with large sectors of the
populace – efforts to bring about change will fail because no well
thought-through policies will be available to put in place for those of the defunct ancien regime.

The courtyard of the Shihab Chalabi House, the Arbil Citadel

The “war of position” involves extensive efforts to
develop a vision of the future – a counter-hegemonic narrative to juxtapose to
the would-be hegemony of the state.While the war of position may at times seem
futile given the lack of systemic change, forces that seek to promote democratic
change, and a political culture based on the norms of tolerance, pluralism and
negotiation, will not be able to act if opportunities for change arise, without
having carefully fashioned an effective counter-hegemonic discourse.Of course, I noted it is easy for a Westerner
to come and lecture in Iraq, compared to the obstacles, sometimes even fines and
imprisonment, that Iraqi democracy activists experience on a regular basis.

al-Mada Editor-in-Chief, Fakhri Karim

Following my lecture, I had the opportunity to spend
the remainder of the evening at the home of Fakhri Karim, Editor-in-Chief of
Iraq’s most impressive newspaper, al-Mada, and president of Dar al-Mada that
publishes a large number of important studies on Iraqi and Arab politics,
culture, society and history.The
current state of Iraqi politics was the topic of the evening with arguments
that continued until the early hours of the morning.

The next day, before Faris Nadhmi, his wife, Nareen, who
also teaches at Salahiddin University, and I left for Dohuk, we visited the Dar
al-Mada Bookstore in Arbil run by Nuri Karim, Fakhri’s brother.The bookstore is very impressive and offers
a wide array of volumes, most in Arabic.
On a stand in front of the bookstore, I discovered a great journal, Nirjis (Narcissus), that is concerned
with women’s issues.

The April 2014 issue consisted of a damning critique
of the proposed Ja'fari Personal Status Law that was introduced by the Minister of
Justice, Ali al-Shammari, and subsequently approved by Iraq’s Council of
Ministers, much to the chagrin of much of Iraq’s citizenry.It contains excellent articles by a number
of Iraqi women activists, including a former judge and lawyers.

Peacebuilding and Education in Iraq conference participants

Arriving in Dohuk, we were presented with an
impressive 3 day conference, organized by the Center for Peace and Conflict Resolution
Studies, the University of Dohuk, and the Center for Global Affairs’ School of
Continuing and Professional Studies at New York University.While an enormous amount of effort went into
organizing the conference, the main organizers were Dr. Jotyar Sadeeq, the
Director of the Center for Peace and Conflict Resolution Studies and Dr. Thomas
Hill of NYU’s Center for Global Affairs.

Dr. Thomas Hill visiting the University of Dohuk

Beginning on Tuesday morning, May 13th,
and ending on Thursday evening, May 15th, participants attended a
wide variety of panels and workshops.In
12 panels in all, and 2 workshops – “Leaving Iraq to Study Peacebuilding,” led
by Tom Hill, and, “ Establishing Creative Space for Peacebuilding,” led by
Michelle O’Connor-Hill, Brisa Munoz, Kristy Kadish and Naddia Siddiqui, 19 of 45
presenters were women (professors or practitioners), 10 were faculty from the
University of Dohuk or Kirkuk University, and20 were faculty from Arab universities or
organizations in the south.

The conference boasted a large and impressive contingent
of foreign scholars and practitioners.They included particpants from the UK, Italy, Pakistan, Israel, the US, Malaysia,
Switzerland, Poland, Columbia, and Lebanon.Given the centrality of the Palestine-Israeli conflict to the Middle
East, I thought the presentation by Gershon Baskin of the Israel Palestine
Center for Research and Information was particularly important, both in terms
of its substance and what it symbolized about confronting, rather than avoiding, resolving long-standing crises in the Middle East.

Dr. Sherko Kirmanj

It is not possible to summarize all the excellent
presentations. , However, I did find some of the papers especially
enlightening.Dr. Sherko Kirmanj, School
of International Studies, Utara University, Malaysia, delivered a critique of
KRG school textbooks, “The KRG’s Islamic Education Textbooks and the Question
of Peaceful Coexistence in Kurdistan.”

His content analysis of Islamic education textbooks
illustrated that, contrary to the proclamations of the KRG that it promotes
tolerance and cultural pluralism, the texts used by the Ministry of Religious
Affairsthat he analyzed promote an interpretation
of Islam that provides no cultural space for minority religions, i.e., the Christian,
Yazidi and Shabak religions.

It was particularly telling when Dr. Kirmanj demonstrated
the limited space allotted to minority religions in the small section at the end
of the textbook.As he noted, the end of
textbooks are usually not completed during the KRG academic year.Indeed, unlike earlier sections of the textbook,
he found no student underlings or notes in this final section.

Dr. Ammara Farooq Malik

Another excellent paper, was presented by Dr. Ammara Farooq Malik and
Katarzyna Szutkowski of the Seeds of Education, Policy & Legal Awareness
Association (SEPLAA) Foundation in Lahore, Pakistan.The presenters discussed the foundation’s
successful efforts to reorient poor, unemployed youth away from terrorist organizations
and bomb building to jobs that promote community development.

What was especially significant about this
presentation was the foundation’s eschewing of a Western development discourse in
favor of situating its efforts and communications in terminology
that draws upon local cultural expressions and terminology. This focus on what the anthropologist Clifford Geertz called "local knowledge" indicated SEPLAA's sensitivity to the cultural dimension of peace building.

In “Reconciliation through Education in Iraq,” Christine
van den Toorn, professor at the American University of Sulimani (AUIS) from 2009-2013,
discussed efforts at the university to build cultural bridges between Iraqi Kurdish,
Arab, Yazidi, Turcoman and Christian students.Her paper demonstrated how students
from different ethnic and confessional groups were able to bridge the lack of
trust through sharing their respective histories of suffering (see her post on The New Middle East, May 23, 2014).

In his photographic essay, Israeli peace activist Gershon
Baskin, founding co-Director of the Israel Palestine Center for Research and
Information (IPCRI), detailed the efforts of Palestinian and Jewish Israelis to
create a mutual dialogue through an examination of their respective narratives
as reflected in history textbooks.While
he detailed the obstacles those committed to peace education in Israel and Palestine
face, the achievements of his organization to date are impressive nevertheless.

Gershon Baskin with President Mahmud Abbas

Naseen al-Daghastani and Dr. Rami Boulus al-Baazi

“Learning Through Joy,” a paper presented by Dr.
Rami Boulus al-Baazi and poet-activist Ms. Naseem Radeef al-Daghastani, spoke to the
issue of how early childhood education can offset authoritarian tendencies in
society by countering the impact that such education often has in stifling a
child’s innate, inborn curiosity and
creativity.In their paper, the
presenters offered a variety of strategies to make early childhood education a
liberating process rather than one that forces the child to conform to restrictive
social and cultural norms.

Another excellent paper, “The Effectiveness of Peace
Education Programs in Decreasing Aggressive Behavior in Iraqi Children,”
was presented by Dr. Rana al-Abassi of the School of Education and Ms. Nagham
Hassan of the Department of Educational Psychology,both of al-Mustansiriya University in Baghdad.

Developing an experimental
study of 80 children between the ages of 10 and 12 in Baghdad, who were divided
into control and experiment groups, the presenters demonstrated how they used
peace education to offset aggressive and sectarian behavior through
teaching children to respect difference and the rights of others, engage in problem-solving
exercises, and develop an understanding of alternatives to violence in solving problems.

Panel 1 - delivering my paper "In Search of National Reconciliation"

In my paper, “In Search of National Reconciliation:
the Use of Historical memory, Education and Civil Society in Building the New
Iraq,” I criticized both Kurdish and Arab history school textbooks for failing
to inform students about the cross-ethnic, tolerant and cooperative nature of the
Iraqi nationalist movement, especially prior to 1963.I summarized
this positive historical memory and tried to demonstrate how it informs a large
number of civil society organizations in which Iraqi youth currently play a central role.

I argued that the “sins of omission” that
characterize history textbooks used by Arab students in the south and Kurdish
students in the north are meant to promote a political agenda that supports a narrative
of the past in which the 2 ethnic groups were always in a state of conflict. I sought to demonstrate that this narrative is not supported by the historical record.One of my suggestions was to develop a website with downloadable material
in Arabic and Kurdish that teachers could use in classrooms to offset the “knowledge
vacuum” that currently characterizes history textbooks in Iraqi schools, both
Arab and Kurdish.

Dr. Faris Nadhmi, Naseen al-Daghjastani and Nasreen Mamkak

The Peacebuilding and Education in Iraq Conference
was a truly seminal event.While the
panels and the debate that they engendered stimulated many new concepts and ideas, the
interaction between Kurdish, Arab and foreign scholars and practitioners during coffee breaks and
during lunch and dinner created new academic relationships and furthered the
important discourse of building peace in Iraq, a country that has known war
almost continuously since the onset of the Iran-Iraq War in 1980.

I learned much about the academic environment in Kurdish
universities.In some classes, female
instructors who do not wear the veil (al-hijab)
are harassed by a small but abusive group of so-called Islamist students (I say "so-called" because most of these students have little knowledge of Islamic doctrine).These students write on blackboards before class that the
instructors will “burn in Hell” as a result.In class, when students are asked to study minority religions,
Islamists refuse to answer questions about these religions on
examinations. (These remarks paralleled those of a professor at Tikrit University who I met at another conference in Iraq last February who indicated that he has to confront students who are taught ideas about Islam in the home that are totally at variance with Islamic beliefs).

In other instances, Islamists reject the study of
linguistics, e.g., the theories of Noam Chomsky, arguing that “only God can
create languages.” Nevertheless, a professor of communications at a large Kurdish university indicated that,
over the past 5 years, the number of students in his classes espousing intolerant Islamist
ideas has declined.All Kurdish faculty
members with whom I spoke pointed to the powerful impact that social media is
having on their students.

Unfortunately,
most Kurdish universities have not developed curricula that produce high
quality graduates.Many students are still
accepted based on political ties rather than on merit.Faculty with whom I spoke expressed frustration
with the instructional process and the lack of empirical research conducted by social science faculty beyond the university, e.g., survey research.

One conclusion I reached is that it is important for the KRG to remain within a (truly) federal Iraq to continue to provide serious Kurdish students with the opportunity
to study in Arab universities in the south.Even today, many Kurds continue to attend Mosul University despite the danger
in the Mosul area (one Arab professor told me that 3 people were shot dead in
front of him as he walked down a main street in Mosul).

It was rewarding to see the close ties that many
Kurdish and Arab professors have developed, especially those from Mosul
University and the University of Dohuk that are only 30 minutes apart on the
highway that connects the 2 cities.Indeed, many Kurdish professors still have homes in the Mosul area stemming
from the period prior to 2003.

The conference on Peace Building and Education in Iraq was a unique event.Dr. Jotyar Sadeeq and Dr. Thomas Hill, supported by
a terrific staff lead by Alex Munoz at the Center for Peace and Conflict Resolution Studies at the University of Dohuk, and Anna Mosher at the Center for Global Affairs at New York University, have made a major
contribution to promoting peace education in Iraq.It was a privilege to have been able to participate
in this intellectually and personally rewarding event.

Wednesday, May 28, 2014

This is a very disturbing article written by Ruwayda Mustafah Rabar for the Kurdish new service Rudaw (Event)

An unnamed 45-year-old man murdered his 15-year-old wife on May 23 in thedistrict of Kalakji in the city of Duhok. I will spare readers no details, because itis important for people to understand what a little girl endured at the hands of an evil man.

For years, we have seen countless incidents of Kurdish women violentlybeaten, raped, killed. And for reasons unknown to me, nothing changes withhow we approach these cases. The incident will be all over the news for aweek, maybe two weeks, if women are lucky, and then suddenly people forgetabout it.

Dunya was brutally killed -- her breasts cut off, genitals cut into pieces, shotnine times, her body tied to a car and dragged around, eyes removed. Whenher body was washed for burial, the undertaker who washed her body toldRudaw that, as she poured water over her body, she could hear the grinding ofher broken bones.

Immediately following the murder, the Union of Islamic scholars in Kurdistan
demanded an investigation into the murder, and Kurdish society once more
practiced their time-contingent outrages that seem tochange like the British weather.

Following the news, a demonstration was announced on Facebook, dubbed“Stand up for Dunya” outside the Kurdistani Parliament in Erbil -- alongside avigil for people to pay their respects. In an effort to make ourselves feel better -- less responsible and more proactive – I am sure many meetings andworkshops will be arranged in the future in light of this incident.

However, what I am more concerned about is, once the media find something
more interesting to talk about, and when the Kurdish society’s moral outrage
withers away, what will happen to the countless young girls stuck in marriages,
or the thousands of Kurdish women who find no haven to escape abusive
marriages and partners.

It has become inbred in our culture that by escaping a violent marriage, seekingshelter houses, calling the police, demanding equality, we are shaming ourfamilies. In fact, we are shaming our families by accepting horrific violations ofour personal sovereignty and integrity. We have been misguided to accept thatcertain acts are not cohesive with Kurdish culture, but the truth is, violenceagainst women is not cohesive with Kurdish culture.

Our society is very polarized in this regard -- from those who claim thatKurdistan is backward in every regard and have little room for women -- tothose who claim Kurdistan is a liberating haven for women. Neither side seemsto depict the truer and more complex situation of Kurdish women.

We’re still transitioning into a fully democratic society that respects the rights of
women and embodies universal standards. This does not mean we accept violations
of the rights of women simply because we are “transitioning,” but rather the firstpart of the solution is to understand the problems we are facing.

Significant numbers of Kurdish women are highly educated, and there are manywho hold prestigious jobs, and many Kurdish women are independent,hardworking and successful women. However, we still have women and girlswho are, similar to many countries in the world, forced into marriages or givenno choice but to endure abusive marriages.

The pressing question, I’m fullyaware, is not about whether Kurdish women or Kurdish society is progressive,but rather about this particular case and how we should respond to it.There is no doubt that in the coming weeks Dunya will stop making headlines.

Her case, like the previous cases of two young girls murdered and thrown intoa lake, or the recent case of a Syrian refugee who was raped, will be forgotten.It is important for the Kurdish government and charities to support endeavorsthat are specifically designed to let young girls like Dunya and other womenknow that there are ways to be helped. We need these women to understand that
we live in a society that can protect them, that can offer them shelterhouses. I understand that there are many problems with the current shelterhouses, how they are shunned and mistreated in some instances, but it is stillbetter than having your genitals severed, eyes gouged out, breasts cut off,body tied to a car and shot in the face. We can improve the services that areavailable, but we cannot rule them out as an option.

It deeply saddens me to write about these incidents, especially when Kurdishmedia outlets have shown so little respect to Dunya. Pictures of her covered inblood and her body severed by the gruesome violence inflicted on her are onevery media outlet’s coverage.

These pictures have gone viral on social networking sites and it sickens me that
we still don’t have responsible journalism, that we still think it is appropriate to
use such horrific pictures for the sake of sensationalizing the situation and turning
it into a media witch hunt for more views, likes and fans.

Perhaps, once we learn to respect women’s bodies, and give them their due rights,
as equal to men in Kurdish society, we will forgo this horrendous practice.

An
unnamed 45-year-old man murdered his 15-year-old wife on May 23 in the
district of Kalakji in the city of Duhok. I will spare readers no
details, because it is important for people to understand what a little
girl endured at the hands of an evil man.

For years, we have seen countless incidents of Kurdish women
violently beaten, raped, killed. And for reasons unknown to me, nothing
changes with how we approach these cases. The incident will be all over
the news for a week, maybe two weeks, if women are lucky, and then
suddenly people forget about it.

Dunya was brutally killed -- her breasts cut off, genitals cut
into pieces, shot nine times, her body tied to a car and dragged around,
eyes removed. When her body was washed for burial, the undertaker who
washed her body told Rudaw that, as she poured water over her body, she
could hear the grinding of her broken bones. Immediately following the
murder, the Union of Islamic scholars in Kurdistan demanded an
investigation into the murder, and Kurdish society once more practiced
their time-contingent outrages that seem to change like the British
weather.

Following the news, a demonstration was announced on Facebook,
dubbed “Stand up for Dunya” outside the Kurdistani Parliament in Erbil
-- alongside a vigil for people to pay their respects. In an effort to
make ourselves feel better -- less responsible and more proactive – I am
sure many meetings and workshops will be arranged in the future in
light of this incident. However, what I am more concerned about is, once
the media find something more interesting to talk about, and when the
Kurdish society’s moral outrage withers away, what will happen to the
countless young girls stuck in marriages, or the thousands of Kurdish
women who find no haven to escape abusive marriages and partners.

It has become inbred in our culture that by escaping a violent
marriage, seeking shelter houses, calling the police, demanding
equality, we are shaming our families. In fact, we are shaming our
families by accepting horrific violations of our personal sovereignty
and integrity. We have been misguided to accept that certain acts are
not cohesive with Kurdish culture, but the truth is, violence against
women is not cohesive with Kurdish culture.

Our society is very polarized in this regard -- from those who
claim that Kurdistan is backward in every regard and have little room
for women -- to those who claim Kurdistan is a liberating haven for
women. Neither side seems to depict the truer and more complex situation
of Kurdish women. We’re still transitioning into a fully democratic
society that respects the rights of women and embodies universal
standards. This does not mean we accept violations of the rights of
women simply because we are “transitioning,” but rather the first part
of the solution is to understand the problems we are facing.

Significant numbers of Kurdish women are highly educated, and
there are many who hold prestigious jobs, and many Kurdish women are
independent, hardworking and successful women. However, we still have
women and girls who are, similar to many countries in the world, forced
into marriages or given no choice but to endure abusive marriages. The
pressing question, I’m fully aware, is not about whether Kurdish women
or Kurdish society is progressive, but rather about this particular case
and how we should respond to it.

- See more at: http://rudaw.net/NewsDetails.aspx?PageID=48392#sthash.8D6h4UXw.dpuf

An
unnamed 45-year-old man murdered his 15-year-old wife on May 23 in the
district of Kalakji in the city of Duhok. I will spare readers no
details, because it is important for people to understand what a little
girl endured at the hands of an evil man.

For years, we have seen countless incidents of Kurdish women
violently beaten, raped, killed. And for reasons unknown to me, nothing
changes with how we approach these cases. The incident will be all over
the news for a week, maybe two weeks, if women are lucky, and then
suddenly people forget about it.

Dunya was brutally killed -- her breasts cut off, genitals cut
into pieces, shot nine times, her body tied to a car and dragged around,
eyes removed. When her body was washed for burial, the undertaker who
washed her body told Rudaw that, as she poured water over her body, she
could hear the grinding of her broken bones. Immediately following the
murder, the Union of Islamic scholars in Kurdistan demanded an
investigation into the murder, and Kurdish society once more practiced
their time-contingent outrages that seem to change like the British
weather.

Following the news, a demonstration was announced on Facebook,
dubbed “Stand up for Dunya” outside the Kurdistani Parliament in Erbil
-- alongside a vigil for people to pay their respects. In an effort to
make ourselves feel better -- less responsible and more proactive – I am
sure many meetings and workshops will be arranged in the future in
light of this incident. However, what I am more concerned about is, once
the media find something more interesting to talk about, and when the
Kurdish society’s moral outrage withers away, what will happen to the
countless young girls stuck in marriages, or the thousands of Kurdish
women who find no haven to escape abusive marriages and partners.

It has become inbred in our culture that by escaping a violent
marriage, seeking shelter houses, calling the police, demanding
equality, we are shaming our families. In fact, we are shaming our
families by accepting horrific violations of our personal sovereignty
and integrity. We have been misguided to accept that certain acts are
not cohesive with Kurdish culture, but the truth is, violence against
women is not cohesive with Kurdish culture.

Our society is very polarized in this regard -- from those who
claim that Kurdistan is backward in every regard and have little room
for women -- to those who claim Kurdistan is a liberating haven for
women. Neither side seems to depict the truer and more complex situation
of Kurdish women. We’re still transitioning into a fully democratic
society that respects the rights of women and embodies universal
standards. This does not mean we accept violations of the rights of
women simply because we are “transitioning,” but rather the first part
of the solution is to understand the problems we are facing.

Significant numbers of Kurdish women are highly educated, and
there are many who hold prestigious jobs, and many Kurdish women are
independent, hardworking and successful women. However, we still have
women and girls who are, similar to many countries in the world, forced
into marriages or given no choice but to endure abusive marriages. The
pressing question, I’m fully aware, is not about whether Kurdish women
or Kurdish society is progressive, but rather about this particular case
and how we should respond to it.

There is no doubt that in the coming weeks Dunya will stop
making headlines. Her case, like the previous cases of two young girls
murdered and thrown into a lake, or the recent case of a Syrian refugee
who was raped, will be forgotten. It is important for the Kurdish
government and charities to support endeavors that are specifically
designed to let young girls like Dunya and other women know that there
are ways to be helped. We need these women to understand that we live in
a society that can protect them, that can offer them shelter houses. I
understand that there are many problems with the current shelter houses,
how they are shunned and mistreated in some instances, but it is still
better than having your genitals severed, eyes gouged out, breasts cut
off, body tied to a car and shot in the face. We can improve the
services that are available, but we cannot rule them out as an option.

It deeply saddens me to write about these incidents, especially
when Kurdish media outlets have shown so little respect to Dunya.
Pictures of her covered in blood and her body severed by the gruesome
violence inflicted on her are on every media outlet’s coverage. These
pictures have gone viral on social networking sites and it sickens me
that we still don’t have responsible journalism, that we still think it
is appropriate to use such horrific pictures for the sake of
sensationalizing the situation and turning it into a media witch hunt
for more views, likes and fans. Perhaps, once we learn to respect
women’s bodies, and give them their due rights, as equal to men in
Kurdish society, we will forgo this horrendous practice.
- See more at: http://rudaw.net/NewsDetails.aspx?PageID=48392#sthash.8D6h4UXw.dpufAn unnamed 45-year-old man murdered his 15-year-old wife on May 23 in thedistrict of Kalakji in the city of Duhok. I will spare readers no details, because itis important for people to understand what a little girl endured at the hands ofan evil man.For years, we have seen countless incidents of Kurdish women violentlybeaten, raped, killed. And for reasons unknown to me, nothing changes withhow we approach these cases. The incident will be all over the news for aweek, maybe two weeks, if women are lucky, and then suddenly people forgetabout it.Dunya was brutally killed -- her breasts cut off, genitals cut into pieces, shotnine times, her body tied to a car and dragged around, eyes removed. Whenher body was washed for burial, the undertaker who washed her body toldRudaw that, as she poured water over her body, she could hear the grinding ofher broken bones. Immediately following the murder, the Union of Islamicscholars in Kurdistan demanded an investigation into the murder, and Kurdishsociety once more practiced their time-contingent outrages that seem tochange like the British weather.Following the news, a demonstration was announced on Facebook, dubbed“Stand up for Dunya” outside the Kurdistani Parliament in Erbil -- alongside avigil for people to pay their respects. In an effort to make ourselves feel better -- less responsible and more proactive – I am sure many meetings andworkshops will be arranged in the future in light of this incident. However, whatI am more concerned about is, once the media find something more interestingto talk about, and when the Kurdish society’s moral outrage withers away, whatwill happen to the countless young girls stuck in marriages, or the thousands ofKurdish women who find no haven to escape abusive marriages and partners.It has become inbred in our culture that by escaping a violent marriage, seekingshelter houses, calling the police, demanding equality, we are shaming ourfamilies. In fact, we are shaming our families by accepting horrific violations ofour personal sovereignty and integrity. We have been misguided to accept thatcertain acts are not cohesive with Kurdish culture, but the truth is, violenceagainst women is not cohesive with Kurdish culture.Our society is very polarized in this regard -- from those who claim thatKurdistan is backward in every regard and have little room for women -- tothose who claim Kurdistan is a liberating haven for women. Neither side seemsto depict the truer and more complex situation of Kurdish women. We’re stilltransitioning into a fully democratic society that respects the rights of womenand embodies universal standards. This does not mean we accept violations ofthe rights of women simply because we are “transitioning,” but rather the firstpart of the solution is to understand the problems we are facing.Significant numbers of Kurdish women are highly educated, and there are manywho hold prestigious jobs, and many Kurdish women are independent,hardworking and successful women. However, we still have women and girlswho are, similar to many countries in the world, forced into marriages or givenno choice but to endure abusive marriages. The pressing question, I’m fullyaware, is not about whether Kurdish women or Kurdish society is progressive,but rather about this particular case and how we should respond to it.There is no doubt that in the coming weeks Dunya will stop making headlines.Her case, like the previous cases of two young girls murdered and thrown intoa lake, or the recent case of a Syrian refugee who was raped, will be forgotten.It is important for the Kurdish government and charities to support endeavorsthat are specifically designed to let young girls like Dunya and other womenknow that there are ways to be helped. We need these women to understandHow Long Will We Remember Dunya?http://rudaw

Guest contributor, Christine M. van den Toorn, professor, AUIS, 2009-2013, addresses the important topic of how education can be used to overcome sectarian identities and promote national reconciliation in Iraq.

This week, the class of 2014 will
graduate from the American University of Iraq, Sulaimani (AUIS), a four-year
liberal arts institution in the Kurdistan Region.

In some ways, AUIS reflects its
host country: ethno-sectarian divisions exist among the student body. Sectarianism and its
manifestations in Iraqi society, government and the economy could be called the
largest problem facing the country today.

However AUIS is also unlike any
other institution of higher learning in Iraq. Courses are taught in English,
leaving graduates near fluency. Regardless of their major, the curriculum
requires students to take multiple courses in the humanities, in which they evaluate
advanced texts in discussion based classes and conduct academic research for
papers. Students participate widely in sports and theatre, journalism, debate,
archaeology and photography clubs.

AUIS English language class

This university experience allows
some students, though not all, to move beyond the mistrust, suspicion and lack
of communication that prevents Iraqis from reconciliation and power sharing in
Iraq today. In short, AUIS provides evidence that education can overcome ethno-sectarian
divides.

The student body at AUIS, Iraqi
Kurds, Arabs, Yezidis, Turkmen and Christians, reflects the diversity of the
greater country as well as its divisions. Kurds tend to hang out with Kurds and
Arabs with Arabs. They identify each other by their ethnic group. There is a “we
don’t like them because they don’t like us” attitude. Among Iraqi Arab
students, there is a divide between Shi’i and Sunni.

Many of these suspicions and
divides are understandable: there was limited interaction between Iraqi Arab
and Kurdish youth after the no-fly zone in 1991; the Iraqi education system
labeled Kurds traitors and Arabs superior; and a history of violence against Kurds
by Iraqi regimes created a breeding ground for misconceptions and hatred. Iraqi
Kurdish and Arab youth do not have a shared language because Arabic instruction
ended in the Kurdistan Region in 1991.

While English forms a bridge, at AUIS
most students say they stick to “their own” because of language. Likewise,
Sunni and Shi’i students from Baghdad and al-Najaf have grown up in a violent environment
of sectarian animosity and have little memory of an earlier time when Iraqis were not
all driven by sect.

This is where education can make
a difference.

There is a great deal missing
from Iraq’s history textbooks that could help students bridge ethno-sectarian
divides and have better perspective on how to rebuild their government.

Secondary school textbooks do not
venture past 1963, the year of the first Ba’thist coup, and thus contain no
information on Saddam Hussein's regime, preventing students from studying the
shared suffering of all Iraqis. What is included about the earlier decades of
the Iraqi state is a story of occupation and victimhood, rather than lessons
about political parties, unions and clubs in which all Iraqis participated
during the monarchy and Abd al-Karim Qasim’s brief rule from 1958-1963.

In Middle East History classes students
learn about events that challenge their narrative of Iraqi history as Sunni vs.
Shi’i and Kurd vs. Arab, allowing them to move beyond suspicions and
mistrust.

In one such incident, a Kurdish
student from Chemchemal learned of the uprising in southern Iraqi in 1991
against Saddam. He, like many Kurds, "used to hate Arabs...because I
thought they all liked Saddam” but has now “totally changed his mind” and “has
many Arab friends,” a dynamic he attributes to "what I learned at
AUIS." Similarly, students from Baghdad learn for the first time about the
extent to which Kurds suffered under Ba’th Party rule.

Many students are surprised to
hear that Saddam's regime was far from sectarian, and that there were Shi'i in
the upper echelons of the Ba'th Party. They learn, in the words of an Iraqi
historian who grew up in Baghdad in the 1950s, “when a person looks for
servants and slaves he will care little about their sects, ethnicity, or
religion as far as they are enthusiastically advancing his personal goals.” They
begin to think about "dictatorship" as a universal pathology rather
than associated with an ethnicity.

Ottoman history can also teach
important lessons about a time when ethnicity had little to do with identity or
politics and many Kurds and Arabs were active citizens in the Empire. Learning
about the Young Turks shows that ethno-nationalism was new rather than
something that had always existed. Looking at pan-Arabism reveals the failures
of such ethnocentric movements.

It is not just what
students learn but how they learn that makes such institutions key to
reconciliation.

AUIS students win Microsoft Image Cup

When students arrive at AUIS, few
have ever read an academic text or written anything original – copying
Wikipedia entries is acceptable in Iraqi schools – and fewer had any idea of
what it means to conduct research, and provide evidence or an argument. Several
students remember writing Saddam Husayn’s name in essays because it had to be
preceded and followed by lines of flattering adjectives and they could not
receive a low grade. Almost every student has told me over the years they
"hate history...all we did was memorize!"

Classes that focus on discussion,
reading and writing make a big difference. It is not simply reading about what
Saddam Husayn did, but discussing his policies in class that enables students
to consider different perspectives. Research is equally important: one student
commented that his research paper on “How the Ba’th stayed in power” allowed
him to understand the fear and paranoia Arabs experienced, and how the Party
politicized ethnic and sectarian identities.

AUIS women's basketball team

Similar to class, activities like
debate society, theatre and sports teams provide opportunities to bridge ethnic
and sectarian divisions. While they are the exception to the rule, some AUIS
students who “didn’t like Arabs” or “didn’t like Kurds” are now friends because
of shared experiences over time. The girls on the women's basketball team are
from all over the Kurdistan Region and Baghdad. Yezidis from Bashiqa visit
their friends in al-Najaf, and students from Baghdad go on camping trips with
local students in Ranya, the "Gateway of the Revolution" where the
Kurdish uprising started against Saddam in 1991.

They are friends because “we
get along and have the same interests” and “have the same personality.” Most AUIS
students share the concerns of their counterparts all over the world: good
grades, a good job, and spending time with their friends.

The problem now is that
individuals equipped with the tools of AUIS graduates are too few and far
between to make a real impact in Iraqi society. The
Iraqi Ministry of Higher Education and Ministry of Education, in cooperation
with foreign governments, should focus on two areas of reform: liberal arts
institutions, such as an American University in Baghdad (as advocated by Minister of Higher Education
Ali Adeeb in the Chronicle last
December), and an overhaul of curricula and pedagogy in public schools.

The continuing ethno-sectarian
strife in Iraq proves there are no short-term solutions to Iraq’s conflicts.
Stability and reconciliation will come only through the establishment of
democratic, federal institutions that are both accountable and transparent.
Only a non-sectarian, civic-minded Iraqi population can build these
institutions, making education reform the key to Iraq's future.

About Me

Eric Davis is Executive Director, MA Program in Political Science - Concentration in United Nations and Global Policy Studies, Professor of Political Science and the former director of the Center for Middle Eastern Studies at Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ, USA. He is author of CHALLENGING COLONIALISM: BANK MISR AND EGYPTIAN INDUSTRIALIZATION, 1920-1941 (Princeton University Press, 1983; Institute for Arab Development, Beirut, 1986, and Dar al-Sharook, Cairo, 2009); STATECRAFT IN THE MIDDLE EAST: OIL, HISTORICAL MEMORY AND POPULAR CULTURE (University Presses of Florida, 1993); MEMORIES OF STATE: POLITICS, HISTORY AND COLLECTIVE IDENTITY IN MODERN IRAQ (University of California Press, 2005; Arab Institute for Research and Publishing, 2008; and the forthcoming, TAKING DEMOCRACY SERIOUSLY IN IRAQ (Cambridge University Press). Currently, he is writing a book on the Islamic State and the changing modalities of terrorism in the Middle East. He can be contacted at davis@polisci.rutgers.edu and @NewMidEast